2/27 Radio Show

The Stone Roses - I am the Resurrection
Thalia Zedek - 10th Lament
Jacco Gardner - Clear the Air
The Shop Assistants - Home Again
* Avoxblue - Dream Thru Your Eyes
Golden Grrrls - New Pop
Ducktails - The Flower Lane
* Ex-Magicians - Adirondack Bound
Silver Jews - Dallas
Widowspeak - Ballad of the Golden Hour
Magnolia Electric Co - Whip-Poor-Will
Tender Trap - Train from King's Cross Station
* Mr. Airplane Man - Up in the Room
Holly Golightly & Dan Melchior - Why Don't You Love Me
Terminal Twilight - Fire of Love
Magnetic Fields - Yeah! Oh Yeah!
Polaris - Ivy Boy
The Shilohs - Get Ready Now
Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Footscray Station
My Bloody Valentine - Soon

Polaris was a band fronted by the criminally overlooked Mark Mulcahy.  To my generation, Polaris is Mulcahy's best-known project, as the band provided the music for the 90s Nickelodeon television show, the Adventures of Pete & Pete.  (Polaris was among an impessive line-up of bands whose music was featured in the show.)

In addition to the music recorded for Pete & Pete, Mulcahy's prolific output includes several albums with the band Miracle Legion, an 80s college radio favorite, as well as a handful of solo records.  While Mulcahy's music may have found only a niche audience, his followers are devout.  Must be something about the intrinsically nostalgic quality of his music--with its jangling guitars and whimsical lyrics-- coupled with the fact that we actually are nostalgic for it, due its association with a beloved TV show from our childhood.  Mulcahy is aslo revered by fellow music visionaries: when his wife died suddenly in 2008, dozens of notable artists came together to record a tribute album for Mulcahy, including Michael Stipe, Thom Yorke, and Dinosaur Jr.

2/13 Radio Show: the anti-Valentine Show

...Not necessarily true, but I realize that the default mood of my show (and the music I listen to in general) is far less "Romantic/Happy-in-Love" than it is "Sad, Cynical Bastard." So this was basically a typical show. I did, however, play "Valentine" by the Replacements and a song by My Bloody Valentine.

The Wipers - Back to Basics
The Evens - King of Kings
Clinic - Miss You
My Bloody Valentine - New You
Sonic Youth - Shadow of a Doubt
Reigning Soung - You're Not as Pretty
Norwegian Arms - At the Formerly British Council Supported English Centre
Grass Widow - Under the Atmosphere
Beach Fossils - Careless
The Olivia Tremor Control - Holiday Surprise 1,2,3
The June Brides - Every Conversation
The Replacements - Valentine
Ride - Twisterella
*Mr. Airplane Man - Grown on Me
The Bats - Block of Wood
Veronica Falls - Tell Me
Shonen Knife - Burning Farm
*Love-Up Time - Do You Wanna Dance with Me?
*Earthquake Party! - Little Pet
Slumber Party - Sooner or Later
White Fence - Hey! Roman Nose
The Trypes - Music for Neighbors
Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread
Bill Callahan - Diamond Dancer
La Sera - Left This World
Bedhead - Extramundane
Sun Kil Moon - Heron Blue

Veronica Falls - Teenage

I just got into British quartet Veronica Falls, and I've been listening to them on repeat for the past few days. Maybe I'm just a sucker for chiming guitars and guy/girl harmonies, but I haven't heard new music so committed to this kind of melancholy pop sensibility since the Magnetic Fields.

1/23 Radio Show

New year, new show time! Cochlear Candy will now air on Wednesday mornings from 8 to 9. (Was supposed to be 7 to 9, but there were some kinks in the program scheduling, and let's face it, I was never on time anyways).

Here are the tunes from today's show:

*Fuzzy - Flashlight
Slumber Party - Sooner or Later
The Pussywillows - Turn Her Down
Mac Demarco - Cooking Up Something Good
Aztec Camera - The Boy Wonders
Jacco Gardner - Clear the Air
Shrag - On the Spines of Cathedrals
Eleventh Dream Day - After This Time is Gone
The Magnetic Fields - Abigail, Belle of Kilronin
Magnolia Electric Co. - O! Grace
*Mr. Airplane Man - Not Living at All
Yo La Tengo - Ohm
Chapterhouse - Breather

Fuzzy was a co-ed Boston-based band from the 90s that made terrific power chord driven rock. (The guitarist, Hilken Mancini, now owns the vintage clothing store, 40 South, in Jamaica Plain and runs the Boston chapter of Girls Rock Camp). I want to live inside this music video.

Sometimes I cheat on the Z with WMBR, and one of the DJs from WMBR's weekly morning show "Breakfast of Champions" plays a lot of Slumber Party which inspired me to check them out. With their simple, repetitive guitar rifs, they sound like a minimalistic, all-female Feelies. The chorus of "Sooner or Later" has been stuck in my head for two days straight.

1/8 Radio Show: Favorites from 2012

Tuesday's show featured some of my favorite songs from some of my favorite albums of last year-- with a healthy dose of local Bahston flavah. Disclaimer: this list is not in order and is by no means exhaustive.You can listen to the archived show here.

Beach House - Bloom

Track: Myth

 

Ty Segall - Twins

Track: Gold on the Shore

While Mr. Segall is undeniably a master of intense fuzz laden garage rock, I tend to gravitate toward his mellower stuff. Because I'm a huge wimp. This nice little acoustic ditty features Beatles-esque harmonies and showcases his ability to write an excellent, straightforward pop song.

 Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet on the Sky

Track: Don't Pretend You Didn't Know

I Bet on the Sky is Dinosaur Jr's third album since J, Lou, and Murph reunited in 2005. Mellower and cleaner than previous records (and is that some piano I hear underneath the guitar jangle?), this is Dino at their most melodic.

*Banditas - Save the Rats

Track: Harmony Glass

I think I played Banditas on one out of every two shows this fall. See my interview with frontwoman Hayley Thompson-King here.

 MV & EE - Space Homestead

Track: Workingman's Smile

Tame Impala - Lonerism

Track: Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

*Creaturos - swampp thingg

Track: James Days' Milkshake

King Tuff - King Tuff

Track: Bad Thing

Unabashedly catchy, glam-dusted garage pop that would do Marc Bolan proud.

 

Dum Dum Girls - End of Daze

Track: Mine Tonight

 *The Migs - Whatever Forever

Track: Pretty Ricky

  

White Fence - Family Perfume, Vol. 1

Track: Breathe Again

 *Cuffs - Private View 7"

Track: Private View

 

Sonny & the Sunsets - Longtime Companion

Track: Year of the Cock

 

 

*Debo Band - Debo Band 

Track: And Lay

A Boston-based Ethopian-inspired funk-rock extravaganza!

 Cuddle Magic - Info Nympho

Track: Moby Dickless

Here is some other stuff I dug in 2012 that I would have played if I had more time:

Woods - Bend Beyond
Jessica Pratt - s/t
Barna Howard - s/t
*Full Tang - Intangible
Thee Oh Sees - Putrifiers II
Chain and the Gang - In Cool Blood
Grimes - Visions
 ...and there's tons I'm probably forgetting. I hate "Best of" lists!

12/18 Radio Show

Last show of 2012!

Woods - Rain On
Will Oldham - All These Vicious Dogs
The Evens - Architects Sleep
Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Gammy Leg
The Trypes - The Undertow
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - The Man Who Played God (feat. Suzanne Vega)
Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
Wooden Wand - Sleepwalking After Midnight
The Apartmens - All You Wanted
The Twerps - Dreamin'
Old Time Machine - Pouring Rain
Howling Boil - Green Under Glasses
My Bloody Valentine - When You Sleep
Can - Halleluwah

I've been resisting making a "Best of 2012" list because 1) I think lists are a lazy way to write about music that force you to compare apples and oranges and 2) who cares what I think? However, I've been checking out some of the Best of 2012 lists that are popping up all over the blogosphere and have been reminded of the volume of excellent and diverse music that has come out this year-- particularly in Boston. My first show of the new year will be a recap of my favorite music from 2012-- more as a personal exercise for myself than anything else.

12/11 Radio Show

The Notwist - One Step Inside (Doesn't Mean You'll Understand)Damien Jurado - Museum of Flight
Sic Alps - Moviehead
Brian Eno - Needle in a Camel's Eye
Dum Dum Girls - Mine Tonight
Jessica Pratt - Street of Mine
Heartless Bastards - All This Time
Six Organs of Admittance - Close to the Sky
*Hallelujah the Hills - Get Me in a Room
*Mean Creak - Sunlight
*Debo Band - And Lay
*Quilt - Cowboys in the Void
Reigning Sound - You're not as Pretty
Sun Kil Moon - Gentle Moon
Jack Oblivian - Honey I'm Too Old for You
Sonny & the Sunsets - I Was Born
Night Moves - Family Tongues
The Art Museums - So Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore
Ty Segall & White Fence - Easy Ryder
Miracle Legion - Homer
Magnolia Electric Co. - Almost Was Good Enough

* Locals

Listen here and here.

I'm really enjoying Boston natives Hallelujah the Hills whose record No One Knows What Happens Next came out earlier this year. There's something David Berman-esque about the talk-singing vocals and the guitar noodling (and these guys toured with the Silver Jews a few years ago). The catchy refrain is rounded out by a chorus female singers, turning this song into somewhat of an anthem.

11/20 and 11/27 Radio Shows

I have been so neglectful of this silly little blog lately! Here are playlists for the past two shows:

Tues, November 20th
Magnetic Fields - California Girls
Thurston Moore - Benediction
Bedhead - Extramundane
Pete Krebs - Bad Penny
Simon Joyner - My Life is Sweet
Thee Oh Sees - I Was Denied
Flamin' Groovies - You Tore Me Down
Holly Golightly - No Big Thing
The Seeds - Can't Seem to Make You Mine
The Black Ryder - Sweet Come Down
Frankie Rose and the Outs - Candy
Barna Howard - Promise, I Won't Laugh
The Feelies - Nobody Knows
Toy - Dead and Gone
Mr. Airplane Man - How Long*

Tues, November 27th
Drop Nineteens - Winona*
The Evens - King of Kings
Bill Callahan - Sycamore
Teenage Fanclub & Big Star - Patti Girl/Mine Exclusively
Banditas - Virginia*
Krill - 32 Teeth*
Full Tang - Pre/Post
Cass McCombs - Bobby, King of Boys Town
Marshall Crenshaw - Someday, Someway
Luna - Astronaut
Tall Dwarfs - Clover
The People's Temple - More for the Masses
Brian Eno & John Cale - Spinning Away
Those Darlins - Be Your Bro
Menomena - Baton
Blouse - Into the Black

I recently discovered Barna Howard, a Portland-based Bob Dylan acolyte whose roots are in the Boston music scene. On Howard's debut self-titled album that was released earlier this year, he is equipped with just an acoustic guitar and earnest vocals. His lyric-driven, stripped-down songs harken back to the 50s folk revival and draw a stark contrast to the electronica and distortion that dominates the radio waves today. It's also nice to hear lyrics that are so eloquently introspective: while our generation's dominant form of expression is snark and irony, Mr. Howard sings with straightforward honesty-- and because of this, what could otherwise be construed as a Townes Van Zandt rip-off sounds entirely vulnerable and refreshing. I absolutely love this album.

11/6 Radio Show and Full Tang's Record Release

Full Tang at Church, 11/2

Wooden Dinosaur - Paper Cars
Ty Segall - Gold on the Shore
Deer Tick - Electric
Cuddle Magic - Baby Girl
Mark Mulcahy - Love's the Only Thing that Shuts Me Up
The Shop Assistants - Here it Comes
Mr. Airplane Man - Wait for your Love
Freedom Fry - Summer in the City
The Olivia Tremor Control - Holiday Surprise 1, 2, 3
Silver Jews - Smith and Jones Forever

This Friday, I saw Boston-based Full Tang play at Church for the release of their album Intangible. (Disclaimer: these guys are my good buds. They have played house shows in my basement on more than one occasion. I realized recently that I have seen them more than any other band in my 20s.) Full Tang's sound is an amalgamation of varied influences. Perhaps most prevalent is Afrobeat (and they share members with the much acclaimed Boston-based Ethiopian 11-piece, Debo Band), but their sound also incorporates elements of psych rock and fuzz-laden garage. Each one a Conservatory-trained multi-instrumentalist, they seamlessly swap instruments-- from bass to drums, from drums to trumpet, from keyboard to sax-- imbuing the quartet's sound with a lush fullness and making for a uniquely exhilarating concert experience.

While Full Tang shows are always lively events peppered with loyal fans, Friday's concert was particularly zany: in the hangover of Halloween, both the band and audience members wore remnants of costumes. Not a toe was left untapping or head unbobbing to their upbeat and playful rhythms. Look out for these guys, Boston.

Check out some selections from Intangible here.

10/23 Radio Show

The Dum Dum Girls at Brighton Music Hall - 10/21

Galaxie 500 - Summertime

Siddal - The Last Asphodel

Kelley Stoltz - X-Ray Eyes

Houndmouth - Penitentiary

Pavement - In the Mouth of a Desert

Dum Dum Girls - I Got Nothing

King Tuff - Unusual World

Palace Music - Horses

Velah - Skeleton House*

Krill - Dumbass in a Pair of Shorts*

Debo Band - And Lay*

La Sera - Please be my Third Eye

The Beets - Watching T.V.

Babies - Moonlight Mile

Monster Rally - Moon Glow

The Fresh & Onlys - No Regard

Django Django - Hail Bop

A.A. Bondy - Hiway/Fevers

Sonny & the Sunsets - Love Among Social Animals

MV & EE - You Matter

* Boston-based bands

On Sunday, I saw the Dum Dum Girls play at Brighton Music Hall. I was first introduced to the Dum Dum Girls' guitar-oriented, Phil Spector-inspired garage rock with their 2011 album Only in Dreams, and their recently released EP End of Daze follows in the same vein. Requirements for being in the band seem to be having black hair and bangs, being beautiful, and never smiling. I'm all for showmanship, but I was slightly put off by their icy and distant demeanor: they interacted with the audience minimally, and there didn't seem to be much camaraderie between the band members. Appearances and attitude aside, every Dum Dum Girl demonstrated remarkable mastery over her instrument. Front woman Dee Dee's captivating voice-- strong, yet trailing off in a vulnerable vibrato-- was emphasized above all else, and rightfully so, as her vocals are what define the Dum Dums Girls' sound.

Local bands Bent Shapes and Velah started out the night with strong and energetic sets. I've played both bands on my show before, and I would recommend checking them out.

10/16 Radio Show

 
And on this week's installment of "Cochlear Candy"...

Moon Duo - Dance Pt. 3
Lavender Diamond - I Don't Recall
The Mantles - Don't Lie
Taken by Trees - Not Like Any Other
The Twerps - Dreamin'
Ganglians - Cryin' Smoke
Opal - My Only Friend
TV Torso - Clear Lake Strangler
Young Marble Giants - Brand-New-Life
The Art Museums - We Can't Handle It
Sic Alps - Sing Song Waitress
White Fence - Lillian (Won't You Play Drums?)
The Feelies - Here Before
Mmoss - Woolgathering*
Kal Marks - Out in the Deep*
Quilt - Young Gold*
Magic Man - Monster*
Orca Orca - South Carolina*
Banditas - Dope Sick*
The Strange Boys - Woe is You and Me
The Greenhornes & Holly Golightly - There is an End
Woods - Blood Dries Darker
My Bloody Valentine - When You Sleep
Cryatal Stilts - Converging in Quiet

* Local

Completely unrelated to today's show, this is happening this weekend. Buckminster Fuller + Yo La Tengo + ICA = a divine mix of high-brow cultural goodness.

10/9 Radio Show

Guided by Voices - Tyson's High School
Dum Dum Girls - Lord Knows
Real Estate - Green Aisles
Silver Jews - Honk if You're Lonely
The Feelies - Later On
Mazzy Star - Halah
Widowspeak - Gun Shy
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Am I Demon
Thee Oh Sees - If I Stay Too Long
Bent Shapes - Boys to Men*
Avoxblue - The Confessional*
Haunts All Houses - Moon*
Banditas - Harmony Glass*
Mean Creek - Sunlight*
Ex-Magicians - Richard Karn*
Full Tang - Itchy Back Jack*
Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread
The Jesus & Mary Chain - Some Candy Talking
The Fresh & Onlys - Long Slow Dance
Kurt Vile - I Know I Got Religion
Woods - Bend Beyond
Wet Hair - Visit the Mirror

* Boston-based band

Listen to the archived show here and here.

The hallmark of our post-modern times is the death of originality (or so I was told in my college philosophy classes), and therefore, it's not surprising that you can't listen to an album these days without encountering at least one cover song. While there are plenty of forgettable and even offensively bad covers, a well-done cover song can lead to awareness and appreciation of the original and can sometimes even supersede it.

Here are a couple of covers I played on today's show:

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Am I Demon (Danzig cover)

I honestly don't like the original version of this song at all (which perhaps has less to do with the quality of the music and more to do with my own personal intolerance for metal). With the powers of his acoustic guitar and vulnerable vocals, Will Oldham transforms the heavy-handed Danzig original into something that is a delicate and beautiful. While preserving Danzig's melody and lyrics, he absorbs the song so completely into his own style that it sounds like it could have been written by Oldham himself.

Thee Oh Sees - If I Stay too Long (The Creation cover)

 

Thee Oh Sees are one of my favorite players in the resurgence of fuzz-laden garage rock that has been dominating the college radio waves, and it is not surprising that they should pay homage to some of the most talented forefathers of the genre. Thee Oh Sees add on layers of vocals and a kick-ass psyched-out guitar solo, but their cover is essentially faithful to the original version by the Creation-- a testament to the timelessness of this 1967 tune.

9/25 Radio Show and Girls Girls Girls

Here is the playlist for this morning's "Cochlear Candy" which you can listen to here and here.

Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater
Mmoths - Thnx
Songs: Ohia - Farewell Transmission
The Make Up - Save Yourself
Widowspeak - Gun Shy
Simon Joyner - One for the Catholic Girls
Vivian Girls - Where Do You Run To
Victory's Madame - Kansas Crazy*
Mr. Airplane Man - Not Living at All*
Abadabad - All the Bros Say*
Swirlies - Bell*
Howling Boil - Green Under Glasses*
Sister Spaceman - Here Right Now*
The Wandas - Forever and Ever*
Real Estate - Kinder Blumen
Woods - Rain On
Miracle Legion - All for the Best
Luna - Speedbumps
Bob Mould - Stream of Hercules
Bill Callahan - Too Many Birds

* Local-ish bands. "Ish" because I'm including bands from Providence and New Hampshire.

I've been on a girl band kick recently. Here are some of the lady-centric tunes from today's show:

9/18 Radio Show

Here's the playlist from the second edition of "Cochlear Candy" which aired this morning from 7:00 - 9:00 AM on WZBC.

Pastels - Yoga
Hood - Delusions of Worthlessness
Sundress - California Dames
Poor Moon - Come Home
MV & EE - Sweet Sure Gone
Spiritualized - Run
Sun Kil Moon - Gentle Moon
Cuddle Magic - Moby Dickless
Quilt - Penobska Oalkwalk
Banditas - Virginia
Husker Du - Chartered Trips
The Magnetic Fields - The Saddest Story Ever Told
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Easy Does it
Mazzy Star - 5 String Serenade
The Olivia Tremor Control - Suite One
Chapterhouse - Breather
Magnolia Electric Co. - O! Grace
Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2

Beginning today, I am dedicating 8:00 - 8:30 of every show to Boston-based bands exclusively. Please pass along any suggestions! Here are the Beantown soundz from today's show:

Radio City

This morning marked the inaugural broadcast of "Cochlear Candy" on WZBC. (That's 90.3 FM for you Boston folks and streaming online at www.wzbc.org for all people everywhere.) You can catch the show live every Tuesday morn from 7:00 - 8:45 am, and you can listen to the archived show here (first hour) and here (second hour).

Playlist for Tues, 9/11:
Vivian Girls - The Other Girls
Wild Nothing - Summer Holiday
Bedhead - Bedside Table
Crocodiles - Hung Up On a Flower
Tennis - Origins
Grimes - Oblivion
Ducktails - Hamilton Road
Ty Segall - Booksmarts
Echo Lake - Wild Peace
Vic Chestnutt - Supernatural
All of Them Witches - The Real Head Stretcher
The Wipers - Youth of America
The Wedding Present - Box Elder
Dutchess & the Duke - Scorpio
The Feelies - The High Road
Cat Power - I Don't Blame You
Guided by Voices - Gold Heart Mountain Top Queen Directory
King Tuff - Stranger
The Clean - Anything Could Happen
Beach House - You Came to Me
Thee Oh Sees - The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Way Over in the Minor Key
The Field Mice - Emma's House